Kolpochoerus Explained

Kolpochoerus is an extinct genus of the pig family Suidae related to the modern-day genera Hylochoerus, Phacochoerus, and Potamochoerus. It is believed that most of them inhabited African forests, as opposed to the bushpig and red river hog that inhabit open brush and savannas. There are currently eleven recognized species.

Species

In taxonomic order:

• Genus †Kolpochoerus
  • K. deheinzelini — Chad, Ethiopia (Early Pliocene)
  • K. afarensis - eastern Africa (Pliocene)
  • K. limnetes- eastern Africa (Plio-Pleistocene)
  • K. millensis — Central Afar, Ethiopia (Pliocene)
  • K. cookei - Ethiopia (Late Pliocene)
  • K. heseloni - eastern Africa (Plio-Pleistocene)
  • K. olduvaiensis - eastern Africa (Pleistocene)
  • K. majus - eastern Africa (Pleistocene)
  • K. phacochoeroides - Morocco (Late Pliocene)
  • K. paiceae - South Africa (Pleistocene)
  • K. phillipi - Ethiopia (Pleistocene)

Palaeoecology

Based on dental microwear texture analysis, K. afarensis had a broad, unspecialised diet that included foods that were hard and brittle as well as underground foods such as roots and tubers.^[1]

References

• Thomas, P. 1884. Recherches stratigraphiques et paléontologiques sur quelques formations d’eau douce de l’Algérie. Mémoires de la Société géologique de France, 3ème série, 3, 1–50. ISSN 0078-8554 Palaeont. afr. (December 2004) 40: 69–83 83
• New skulls of Kolpochoerus phacochoeroides (Suidae: Mammalia) from the late Pliocene of Ahl al Oughlam, Morocco Denis Geraads UPR 2147 du CNRS, 44 rue de l’Amiral Mouchez, 75014 PARIS, France Received 10 August 2004. Accepted 20 December 2004.
• Haile-Selassie, Y.; Simpson, S.W. 2013: A new species of Kolpochoerus (Mammalia: Suidae) from the Pliocene of Central Afar, Ethiopia: Its taxonomy and phylogenetic relationships. Journal of mammalian evolution, 20(2): 115–127. doi: 10.1007/s10914-012-9207-0 reference page

Notes and References

1. Lazagabaster . Ignacio A. . July 2019 . Dental microwear texture analysis of Pliocene Suidae from Hadar and Kanapoi in the context of early hominin dietary breadth expansion . . en . 132 . 80–100 . 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.04.010 . 1 February 2025 . Elsevier Science Direct.